xce e ce an equity EDUCATION AND THE PUBLIC DIMENSION OF MUSEUMS A Report from the American Association of Museums, 1992
Foreord this report from the American Association of Museums points the ay for museums to expand their role as educational institutions ithout boundaries in order to reach broad audiences. Supporting and increasing educational opportunities for people of every age is a key emphasis for MetLife Foundation. Museums play an important role in helping people experience and understand the orld and are essential assets for communities. Recognizing the important contributions and educational value of museums, MetLife Foundation has supported museums across the country to extend their reach into diverse communities, strengthen programming and develop imaginative exhibitions. Our support of Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums is a natural continuation of our commitment to the museum community. We are proud of this ork. Sibyl Jacobson President and CEO MetLife Foundation 2
Preface 2008 hen AAM first published Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums in 1992, the report called for ne thinking about the role of museums in public education. It recast the definition of excellence not merely to include equity, but to require it for museums to embrace cultural diversity in all facets of their programs, staff and audiences, in order to have any hope of sustaining vitality and relevance. In the coming years, every category of person that means anything to museums ill continue to add rich variety to the nation s tapestry: our visitors, our staffs, the legislators ho help fund our institutions, those in the media ho help shape public opinion about hat is important to go and see. Equity is a to-ay street: If e ant our communities to support us, to keep coming through our doors, e must ensure that e reflect their varied interests, that e tap everyone s strengths. We at AAM hope that this third edition of Excellence and Equity, reissued virtually unchanged, ill continue to lead the field in pursuing these critical goals. Ford W. Bell, DVM President American Association of Museums 3
Preface to the First Edition excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums is the first major report on the educational role of museums ever to be issued by the American Association of Museums. As such, it is a landmark document. But the dialogue about museums educational role has stimulated and challenged museum professionals for many decades. With this report, the association stimulates and challenges us in ne ays and provides leadership as e take stock and prepare for the realities of life in the tenty-first century. The title links to concepts excellence and equity. By giving these concepts equal value, this report invites museums to take pride in their tradition as steards of excellence and to embrace the cultural diversity of our nation as they foster their tremendous educational potential. Both elements excellence and equity must be embedded in everything e do if museums are to serve a rapidly changing orld in a meaningful ay. This report as adopted as a policy statement by the American Association of Museums Board of Directors in May 1991. It reflects the ork of the AAM Task Force on Museum Education, hich as created by AAM president Joel N. Bloom in September 1989 and charged ith describing the critical issues in museum education, recommending action to strengthen and expand the educational role of museums in today s orld, and outlining an ongoing role for museums, professional associations, and other appropriate organizations to ensure that the task force s recommendations ould be carried out. The ork of the task force as an outgroth of the Commission on Each of us must embrace these challenges, both philosophically and practically, so that all citizens can fully experience the public dimension of museums. Museums for a Ne Century, hich in its 1984 report asserted the far-reaching potential of museums at educational institutions. Excellence and Equity presents an expanded definition of museums educational role that involves the entire museum from trustees to guards in the galleries, from public relations staff to docents ho give tours, from curators to educators. The missions of museums, the report submits, should state equivocally that there is an educational purpose in every museum activity. 4
This report is based on three key ideas: 1The commitment to education as central to museum s public service must be clearly expressed in every museum s mission and pivotal to every museum s activities. 2Museums must become more inclusive places that elcome diverse audiences, but first they should reflect our society s pluralism in every aspect of their operations and programs. 3Dynamic, forceful leadership from individuals, institutions, and organizations ithin and outside in the museum community is the key to fulfilling museums potential for public service in the coming century. Excellence and Equity represents the commitment of a diverse group of tenty-five individuals ho orked together for more than to and a half years. The task force members represented different kinds of museums, areas of the country, professional and volunteer positions, and years of service. We illingly engaged in open and challenging discussions about topics that often touched the core of our beliefs and feelings about the profession. Together, e reached a consensus about the principles and recommendations expressed in this report. As chair of the task force, I took this complex dialogue beyond the task force and invited responses from other museum professionals in all types of museums in many regions of the country as ell s from the AAM Executive Committee and Board of Directors. At a ton meeting session during the 1991 AAM annual meeting, e solicited reactions from the field to the report and to the association s plans for implementation. While many reports gather dust more quickly than they generate change, AAM is actively orking to facilitate and implement the imperatives of Excellence and Equity. A ne Museum Assessment Program Public Dimension Assessment, or MAP III provides an avenue for museums to implement the goals expressed in this report. The accreditation process helps museums to articulate the issues, concerns, and methods of public service. In the legislative arena, AAM is moving to advocate a broader base of funding for museums as educational institutions. Within the museum profession, the agendas of regional and national professional meetings are already reflecting a heightened aareness of the ideas expressed in this report. To promulgate such an aareness on a larger scale, AAM is developing a major public relations campaign. This report could not have been accomplished ithout the continued support of AAM president Joel N. Bloom, ho formed the task force, and his successor as president, Ellsorth H. Bron. The members of the AAM Board of Directors provided outstanding guidance, as did the standing professional committees, especially the Standing Professional Committee on Education. The leadership of the association s professional 5
staff as also critical to this report. Executive Director Edard H. Able Jr., accepted the challenges articulated in the document and helped secure support for implementation. Patricia E. Williams, deputy executive director for programs and policy; Kim Igoe, director of accreditation and museum standards; Arlene Williams, director of development; and Alma Gates, executive assistant, provided guidance and support, as did Kathy Dyer Southern, no executive director of the National Cultural Alliance. Ellen Cochran Hirzy s expertise ith ords and patience through numerous drafts helped us to achieve a thoughtful and coherent document. Recognition must be given to the members of the Task Force on Museum Education, all articulate, reflective, and passionate people, ho brought their considerable experience to bear in serious discussions of complex issues and committed themselves to moving the agenda forard through its revie process to reach the consensus expressed here. Finally, e acknoledge the support of the Metropolitan Life Foundation. The foundation s generous underriting of this publication has helped to assure its dissemination to the museum and education fields. The association and the task force are grateful to Metropolitan Life for the vision it has demonstrated as the first corporate sponsor of these important activities. Excellence and Equity calls for fundamental change in ho museums vie their service to society. The responsibility for effecting this change is ours. Each of us must embrace the challenges expressed in the folloing pages, both philosophically and practically, so that all citizens can fully experience the public dimension of museums. Bonnie Pitman Chair, AAM Task Force on Museum Education December 1991 6
Executive Summary against a backdrop of global change, this report from the American Association of Museums prepared by its Task Force on Museum Education and adopted by the AAM Board of Directors in May 1991 speaks to a ne definition of museums as institutions of public service and education, a term that includes exploration, study observation, critical thinking, contemplation, and dialogue. Museums perform their most fruitful public service by providing an educational experience in the broadest sense: by fostering the ability to live productively in a pluralistic society and to contribute to the resolution of the challenges e face as global citizens. The public educational responsibility of museums has to facets: excellence and equity. In every aspect of their operations and programs, museums must combine a tradition of intellectual rigor ith the inclusion of a broader spectrum of our diverse society. By making a commitment to excellence in public service, museums can assure that decisions about collecting, exhibitions, programs, and other activities are supported both by rigorous scholarship and by respect for the many cultural and intellectual viepoints that museum collections stand for and stimulate. By making a commitment to equity in public service, museums can be an integral part of the human experience, thus helping to create the sense of inclusive community so often missing in our society. Excellence and Equity is based on an expanded notion of public service and education as a museum-ide endeavor that involves trustee, staff, and volunteer values and attitudes; exhibitions; public and school programs; publications; public relations efforts; research; decisions about the physical environment of the museum; and choices about collecting and preserving. These elements are among the many that shape the educational messages museums convey to the public. This report urges action on critical issues related to excellence and equity, issues that the museum community must address if museums are to fulfill their positions as vital institutions in service to society. It poses some thought-provoking questions: Ho can museums, hich have so much to contribute to the collective human experience, elcome the broad spectrum of our society? Ho can they use the abundance of their collections and their scholarly resources to enrich and empoer citizens from all backgrounds? Ho can museum professionals and trustees effect the serious and lasting change needed to assure that museums are integral to the social fabric? This report presents a plan for action that centers on the folloing ten principles ith accompanying recommendations: 7
1 Assert 2 Reflect 3 Understand, 4 Enrich 5 Assure 6 Engage 7 Assess 8 Achieve 9 Provide 10 that museums place education in the broadest sense of the ord at the center of their public service role. Assure that the commitment to serve the public is clearly stated in every museum s mission and central to every museum s activities. the diversity of our society by establishing and maintaining the broadest possible public dimension for the museum. develop, expand, and use the learning opportunities that museums offer their audiences. our knoledge, understanding, and appreciation of our collections and of the variety of cultures and ideas they represent and evoke. that the interpretative process manifests a variety in cultural and intellectual perspectives and reflects an appreciation for the diversity of museums public. in active, ongoing collaborative efforts ith a ide spectrum of organizations and individuals ho can contribute to the expansion of the museum s public dimension. the decision-making processes in museums and develop ne models that enable an expanded public dimension and a reneed commitment to excellence. diversity among trustees, staff, and volunteers to assure a breadth of perspective throughout the museum. professional development and training for ne and established professionals, trustees, and volunteers that meets the needs of the museum profession so that museums may carry out their responsibility to their diverse public. Commit leadership and financial resources in individual museums, professional organizations, and training organizations and universities to strengthen the public dimension of museums. These are complex challenges that require time, resources, and commitment. But museums must seek solutions if they are to play a pivotal role as educational institutions. Guided by the spirit of excellence and equity, museums have the potential to nurture an enlightened, humane citizenry that appreciates the value of knoing about its past, is resourcefully and sensitively engaged in the present, and is determined to shape a future in hich many experiences and many points of vie are given voice. Introduction 8
Introduction the educational role of American museums has been central to their history, evolving through the years in relationship to the changing public dimension of museums. Today, as e consider museums and education against a backdrop of global change, a central question shapes the dialogue: Ho can museums as multidimensional, socially responsible institutions ith a tremendous capacity for bringing knoledge to the public and enriching all facets of the human experience help to nurture a humane citizenry equipped to make informed choices in a democracy and to address the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly global society? Museums can no longer confine themselves simply to preservation, scholarship, and exhibition independent of the social context in hich they exist. They must recognize that the public dimension of museums leads them to perform the public service of education a term that in its broadest sense includes exploration, study, observation, critical thinking, contemplation, and dialogue. Museums have a dual public responsibility suited to today s orld. One element of this responsibility is excellence: A hallmark of museums is intellectual rigor, a tradition that must continue to be applied in the context of a ider public dimension. The other element is equity: In reexamining their public dimension, museums must include a broader spectrum of our diverse society in their activities. Museums must fulfill both elements of this dual responsibility excellence and equity in every aspect of their operations and programs. Three key concepts are embodied in this report: First, the educational role of museums is at the core of their service to the public. This assertion must be clearly stated in every museum s mission and central to every museum s activities. Second, museums have the potential to be enriched and enlivened by the nation s diversity. As public institutions in a democratic society, museums must achieve greater inclusiveness. Trustees, staff, and volunteers must acknoledge and respect our nation s diversity in race, ethnic origin, age, gender, economic status, and education, and they should attempt to reflect that pluralism in every aspect of museums operations and programs. Third, dynamic, forceful leadership is needed ithin and outside the museum community. Strong leadership on the part of individuals, institutions, and organizations ill provide vision, inspire broad-based commitment, and generate resources; it is the key to meeting the challenges and fulfilling the promise expressed in this report. 9
This report is based on the premise that every area of museum activity contributes to museums public dimension and to the important public service museums provide. The traditional term museum education is too specialized to encompass the multifaceted educational role of museums. This report focuses instead on the expanded notion of public service, defined here as a museum-ide endeavor that involves trustee, staff, and volunteer values and attitudes; exhibitions; public and school programs; publications; public relations efforts; research; decisions about the physical environment of the museum; and choices about collecting and preserving. These are just some of the elements that shape the educational messages museums convey to the public and the public service they provide. This report also affirms the premise that museums have an aggregate importance as educational institutions, recognizing that not every museum can be all things to all people. Museums fullest public service derives from their collective contribution to their audiences. Each museum has individual qualities and a local and regional significance; together museums are a pluralistic group of institutions orking to benefit society. Consistent ith their missions, individual museums of different sizes and types must ensure that they are accessible to a broad audience and that they do not intentionally or even subtly and unintentionally exclude anyone. This report also stresses the significance of museums in the educational complex of a democratic society. Museums have a vital place in a broad educational system that includes formal institutions such as universities, schools, and professional training institutes and informal agents of socialization such as the family, orkplace, and community. Museums have the capacity to contribute to formal and informal learning at every stage of life, from the education of children in preschool through secondary school to the continuing education of adults. They add a tangible dimension Education in its broadest sense includes exploration, study, observation, critical thinking, contemplation, and dialogue. to learning that occurs in formal settings. Museum relationships ith schools and universities, in particular, have great future potential as ne curriculum efforts call for a strengthening of the sciences, arts, and humanities. Museums also have the potential to create partnerships in their communities ith other organizations that serve the public in informal settings, such as libraries, civic groups, and social service organizations. 10
The Context for Public Service the American Association of Museums Commission on Museums for a Ne Century laid the foundation for the task force s ork and for this document. In its 1984 report Museums for a Ne Century, the commission affirmed fundamental principles of museum education and made recommendations for future action. As they sought to assess and clarify the role of museums in our society, commission members returned often to the themes of public service and education. Throughout their history, the report said, American museums have embraced the notion that they should communicate the essence of ideas, impart knoledge, encourage curiosity and promote esthetic sensibility. If collections are the heart of museums, the report continued, hat e have come to call education the commitment to presenting objects and ideas in an informative and stimulating ay is the spirit. The Commission on Museums also delineated the unique qualities of learning in museums and called for a better integration of the education function in the museum s organizational structure. The commission described, and the task force affirms, the poerful capacity of museums to contribute to the richness of the collective human experience. With the ne century no less than ten years aay, ho can museums best enrich the collective human experience? And ho are museums preparing to fulfill their public responsibility? As e approach the end of the tentieth century, national boundaries are shifting. Diversity cultural, intellectual, environmental, social, economic, ethnic, national, educational, and generational is seeking full expression. As a nation, e are engaged in a debate about ho e ill think about and respond to the issues of diversity and to demands for equality, a task ith hich e have historically struggled. Multinational corporations and ne economic communities cross political barriers, hile at the same time imbalances of ealth and poverty threaten political stability. Rapid economic development poses clear environmental dangers. These are shared challenges ith global implications, and there are no easy ansers. The solutions our society seeks must respect the interests of individual communities as ell as those of our nation and our planet. For the individual, living in a pluralistic society and contributing to the resolution of multifaceted global questions requires a range of distinctive skills and abilities, including: an understanding of and a respect for all peoples a spirit of inquiry and an openness to ne ideas and approaches an ability to address issues and problems through the rigorous application of creative and critical thinking skills 11
an ability to become involved in one s surroundings on visual, verbal, and auditory levels an understanding of history, science, the natural orld, artistic expression, and humankind, along ith the conviction that this understanding is essential for a fulfilling and responsible life. Museums, through their collections, exhibitions, public and school programs, publications, public relations activities, scholarly activity, and other programs, foster these skills and abilities, thereby contributing to a learning process that continues throughout life. Since the report of the Commission on Museums for a Ne Century as issued, there have been significant changes in the ay the museum field and professionals in individual museums vie the public responsibility of museums. Recent statements of professional ethics and standards reaffirm museums educational role. The AAM Education Committee s statement on Professional Standards for Museum Educators elucidates the museum educator s obligations to the public. The ne Code of Ethics for Museums adopted by the AAM Board of Directors makes public service and education central to museum responsibilities. A critical aspect of the self-study required for museum accreditation is the public educational function. The Ho can museums best enrich the collective human experience? And ho are museums preparing to fulfill their public responsibility? Museum Assessment Programs of AAM and the Institute of Museum Services no offer museums the opportunity to examine the effectiveness of their public service. Again and again in individual museums, education has been affirmed as an essential part of the institution s mission. The tension beteen the concerns of collecting, preservation, and research and the responsibility of public access is giving ay to partnerships among curators, educators, and designers that combine their interests and strengthen the linkage beteen scholarship and interpretation. In many museums the educational function is no longer the discrete province of educators but a fundamental task that involves all staff. It is important to caution, hoever, that hile the case for education has been made and strengthened, the term too often continues to connote specific programs for school children rather than an institution-ide commitment to sharing knoledge ith the public, as the task force has described it in this report. 12
The very nature of interpretation is in transition as ell. In many areas of scholarship, hat one task force member called a quiet revolution in the philosophy of interpretation is underay. Concepts of the meaning of objects and the ay museums communicate about them are changing. Objects are no longer vieed solely as things in themselves, but as things ith complex contexts and associated value-laden significance. Each visitor supplies yet another context and another layer of meaning by bringing individual experiences and values to the encounter ith objects in a museum setting. Changing interpretative approaches ill have a strong impact on museum collections and the public s understanding of them. What Museums Can Contribute as educational institutions ith a long tradition of public service and scholarship, museums make essential contributions to today s society. In the task force s discussions, certain characteristics emerged as the essence of museums educational function. Museums: provide meeting grounds here enriching experiences are offered both through human interaction and interaction ith objects and ideas; offer direct encounters ith objects; are grounded in a tradition of intellectual rigor and high standards of scholarship and balanced by an understanding and representation of cultural perspective; encourage lifelong learning among people of all ages and backgrounds, at all levels of capability, mastery, and interest; supply a context in hich to trace the continuity of human experience and the natural orld and to examine change critically; serve as appropriate places to confirm and validate accepted ideas and can be forums for presenting and testing alternative ideas and addressing controversy; offer the potential to present a variety of cultural and intellectual perspectives; communicate change in global systems and the urgency of addressing questions that affect the global village; communicate through a variety of means from exhibitions to interpreters to electronic media in many combinations, both ithin and outside their alls; 13
offer the opportunity for experiential, emotional, and intellectual learning that is self-directed and voluntary; provide places for reflection and contemplation as ell as avenues for exploration and discovery; serve as training grounds for current and future professionals in museums and in the field of education; contribute unique resources to the process of collaboration ith other institutions and organizations in their communities. Critical Issues in Seeking a Wider Public Dimensionsome museums have been successful in many aspects of their public dimension. But despite their potential, some have not fully used their impressive qualities consistently and creatively enough to achieve their educational role. The task force reached several conclusions: Many museums have not made a strong enough commitment to an expanded public dimension that makes them true centers of learning for the diverse audiences they are responsible for serving. Some members of the public feel that museums have no relevance to their lives. Some people do not feel elcome in museums; others visit museums only to leave feeling inadequate. Only a fe understand the hole spectrum of museums as educational institutions. Museum professionals have not adequately recognized that virtually every decision, from collecting and exhibition policies to public relations plans to architectural design and security arrangements, shapes their institutions public service and educational mission. Some museum staffs and boards of trustees are not adequately representative of our pluralistic society, and the voice of the community is not idely heard in museum decision making. Fe museums have made rigorous scholarship a high priority in support of presentation and exhibition programs. 14
Too fe museums are involved in systematic evaluation and self-study as a stimulus for institutional vitality and groth. Many museums could be more effective in orking ith formal and informal educational institutions and organizations as partners in carrying out their public service. Museum professionals have fe models of organizational structures and exemplary programming that encourage and expanded educational role for their institutions. They are further restricted by the absence of a body of professional literature, lack of contact ith the broader field of education, and limited availability of training for staff members and volunteers. Declining financial resources often force the reduction in our elimination of public programs, and indication that public service has not been fully incorporated in museums missions. The challenge for museums today is to resolve these critical issues and reach for their full potential as educational institutions ith a vital public service to perform. The folloing action plan points to opportunities for embracing and implementing the changes that are necessary if museums are to meet that challenge. A Wider Public Dimension: A Plan for Action this report presents ten principles ith attending recommendations for consideration and action. The principles and recommendations emphasize museums dual responsibility to achieve excellence and equity in defining their public dimension. Although each principle focuses on a particular concern museums must address, the principles and recommendations must be considered not in isolation but in the context of the broader ideas expressed in this report. The task force recognized that some institutions in the heterogeneous museum community are already carrying out these recommendations in an exemplary fashion. This action plan is directed to: museum trustees, ho establish policy for individual museums and provide leadership in fulfilling museums missions; 15
museum professionals, ho create and carry out the programs that advance the public responsibility of museums; museum volunteers, ho are partners in many aspects of museums public dimension; professional organizations at the national, regional, state, and local levels, hich provide leadership and technical assistance to support museums public dimension; university-based programs that prepare professionals for museum ork, including programs in specific disciplines, education, and museum training; educators in other segments of the educational complex, ho ork in partnership ith museums; community leaders, ho are links beteen museums and their audiences; representatives of public and private funding sources, ho provide support for museum programs and activities. 1. MISSION assert that museums place education in the broadest sense of the ord at the center of their public service role. Assure that the commitment to serve the public is clearly stated in every museum s mission and central to every museum s activities. This report speaks to a ne definition of museums as educational institutions that carry out their public service in the spirit of excellence and equity. Museum missions should state unequivocally that an educational purpose is imbedded in every museum activity. The ne definition requires a commitment to achieving the full pluralistic potential of museums by embracing the diversity of our society and reflecting it in all activities and at all levels. Trustees, staff, and volunteers must make a personal investment in expanding the public dimension of museums. Each of us brings to the task of public service our on knoledge and experience and our on biases, hoever unconscious. Self-reflection is an important first step if e are to recognize the gaps in our knoledge and experience as ell as the nature of our biases. Those charged ith making museum policy, as ell as those charged ith carrying it out, must understand the diversity of our society and support the implications of that diversity for museum operations and activities. Museum missions should state unequivocally that an educational purpose is imbedded in every museum activity. 16
Recommendations Ensure that the museum s mission statement expresses a primary commitment to education and public service for diverse audiences. Ensure that the museum s strategic plan acknoledges the institution-ide nature of public service and states clear goals and objectives for expanding and improving the museum s public dimension. Ensure that all staff members and volunteers understand the implications of their decisions and actions for the educational and public service dimension of the museum s ork. Place ne emphasis on public information and public aareness programs to promote an expanded public dimension for the museum. Allocate sufficient resources to ensure that the museum s commitment to education and public service is carried out. 2. AUDIENCE reflect the diversity of our society by establishing and maintaining the broades possible public dimension for the museum. Museums are, or should be, important social and community centers. By achieving equity in the public dimension, museums can assure that they are an integral part of rather than adjunct to the multifaceted human experience. Museums can then help to create the sense of inclusive community that is so often missing in our society. Surveys and even casual observation of visitors to most museums ill usually reveal that they do not reflect the racial, ethnic, or economic heterogeneity of our society or even of museums on communities. We need to gain a sophisticated understanding of visitors expectations of our museums and of the experience and attitudes they bring ith them. Museums should be more elcoming places for all people regardless of their age, ability, education, class, race, or ethnic origin. We must make a concerted long-term effort to become involved ith our communities and to inaugurate programs that are responsive to the needs and ishes of our potential constituents. Recommendations Require that trustees and staff achieve an active understanding of the political, social, economic, and demographic characteristics of the museum s current and potential communities. Conduct audience research to determine ho does and does not visit the museum for the purpose of expanding the museum s service to its public. 17
Identify audiences ith special needs, develop ongoing orking relationships ith them, and make the museum s programs, exhibitions, services, and information more accessible to them. Identify specific segments of the community that the museum ould like to serve more fully, develop orking relationships ith them, and initiate programs to involve them in substantive ays. Assemble staff and volunteers ith the knoledge and skills necessary to fulfill these mandates. 3. LEARNING understand, develop, expand, and use the learning opportunities that museums offer their audiences. Museums are uniquely qualified to provide a variety of learning experiences for people of all ages, interests, and backgrounds. As places of informal, self-directed learning, museums stimulate visitors to create their on encounters ith objects and ideas. Adults, in particular, are seeking opportunities to learn both individually and ith their families. The voluntary nature of the museum experience can be compatible ith the interests of the casual visitor. Unlike schools, museum visits have no prerequisites and no sequential curriculum. Often the learning experience is a moment of reflection or a chance discovery that moves the visitor in a lasting ay. No matter hat the visitor s level of capability, there is the potential for learning, for expanding horizons. Objects and exhibitions are a source of the learning potential. Objects raise questions not addressed by documents; they can be more adequately representative of natural and cultural heritages; they can provide information and enlightenment that cannot be achieved through any other means; they call forth onder and reflection. A panoply of other resources including lectures, classes, publications, public relations efforts, docent tours, and interactive devices help shape the encounter. Even the museum s architectural design, the resources in its library, and the selections in its museum store affect the learning experience. During the past tenty years there has been a rapid expansion of knoledge about ho people perceive and process information and experiences. Although progress has been made toard developing a fuller understanding of the nature of learning in museums, further study is needed and is a key recommendation of this report. We must understand the relationship beteen the visitor and the setting in hich the encounter ith object or idea takes place. Research, experimentation, collaboration beteen curatorial and program staff, consultation ith experts on learning theory, and collaboration ith educators from other settings can expand our comprehension of the learning that occurs in the museum environment. Museum professionals also need to study and test 18
the implications of communications technologies, ideas from the field of educational psychology, and the latest exhibit design principles. Ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of exhibits and programs is critical, because the assessment process stimulates the capacity for change Recommendations Develop and expand research methods that ill test and document ho people learn in the museum environment. Apply the findings to exhibition and program development. Develop educational experiences for schoolchildren, families, and adults that reflect a knoledge of the different learning styles visitors bring to museums. Experiment ith exhibition and program strategies and innovative technologies to enhance the capacity of museums to reach a ider audience through exhibitions and programs. Assess the effectiveness of exhibitions and programs in an ongoing evaluation process that encourages revision and experimentation to improve the visitor s experience of learning from objects and exhibits. Utilize the groing potential for extending the educational role of museums beyond their alls through electronic media, and conduct systematic studies to assess the effectiveness of these resources. Establish learning laboratories in selected museums for research, experimentation, and dissemination of information about exhibition and program development, implementation, and evaluation as ell as about the special nature of museum learning and museum audiences. 4. SCHOLARSHIP enrich our knoledge, understanding, and appreciation of our collections and of the variety of cultures and ideas they represent and evoke. The responsible scholarship that is a hallmark of museums is essential to fulfilling museums public service. Decisions about collecting, exhibitions, programs, and other activities carry a poerful, value-laden educational message. These decisions require excellence in scholarship as ell as respect for the cultural and intellectual viepoints that the objects in museum collections stand for and stimulate. Scholarship in museums supports education, exhibitions, and publications, and it informs the public, students, and scholars. The pursuit of knoledge about our collections should be carried out in an atmosphere of intellectual rigor. Scholarship must include the fair and serious treatment 19
of cultural perspectives and the acknoledgment that every scholar brings particular cultural and intellectual biases to his or her ork. Also critical to the scholarship in museums are an appreciation for the cultural and intellectual complexity of objects and an active interest in communicating the products of scholarship to visitors. Heightened cultural sensitivity is especially important to today s research and interpretation, hich is struggling to shed the limiting cultural biases and ethnocentrism of the past. The return of cultural patrimony is one of a number of issues that ill fundamentally alter the ay museums interpret their collections in the future. Recommendations Apply rigorous standards of scholarship to the development and presentation of exhibitions and programs. Make information about collections more accessible to academic and nontraditional scholars, museum professionals, and the public. Increase opportunities for research in relevant academic disciplines by both curatorial and program staff. Initiate scholarly research in conjunction ith colleges and universities and ith other museums. Develop and refine scholarly methods and techniques that permit sophisticated analysis of the context of objects. Explain the important role of research in museums to the public through exhibitions, programs, publications, and electronic media. 5. INTERPRETATION assure that the interpretive process manifests a variety in cultural and intellectual perspectives and reflects an appreciation for the diversity of museums public. All museums have objects or represent concepts that relate to some aspect of the human experience. They are ripe ith possibilities for visitors to find personal meaning and to appreciate other cultures. But the perspectives of mainstream cultures still pervade many museums. By cultivating and expressing a variety of cultural perspectives in the presentation and interpretation of their collections, museums can foster inclusiveness. They can invite a broader spectrum of the public to participate in museums and experience a relationship ith hat museums have to offer. Divergent points of vie as ell as different cultural perspectives can be given voice in the interpretive process. Fearing that the neutrality of the institution might be compromised, many museums are reluctant to present informed but differing viepoints. 20
Yet debate, even controversy, is integral to the scholarly endeavor, and it can stimulate a balanced interpretive message that can challenge the visitor to discover ideas and form opinions. Recommendations Involve representatives of various communities and diverse cultural groups in the research and documentation process relative to their cultural experience in order to broaden the range of perspectives and deepen the understanding of museums holdings. Enrich the intellectual debate in the earliest stages of exhibition and program development by supporting staff research and encouraging the introduction of ne ideas and ne approaches. Introduce visitors to differing perspectives by including statements by those ho have developed the exhibition and by making full use of interpretive programs, exhibit labels, publications, and electronic media. Expand the scope of interpretation to assure that the products of research are accessible and understandable to visitors ith a range of expertise. 6. COLLABORATION engage in active, ongoing collaborative efforts ith a ide spectrum of organizations and individuals ho can contribute to the expansion of the museum s public dimension. In a orld of diminishing resources, museums have much to gain by collaboration ith individuals, institutions, and organizations in public service and public education. Museums engage in collaborative efforts ith other museums, universities, schools, libraries, visual and performing arts groups, the media, and historic preservation organizations; they ork ith social service groups; they form partnerships ith city and state government agencies. They have a long and highly successful history of collaboration ith elementary and secondary schools. They are forming ne relationships ith the private sector. Looking to the future and considering the nature of our global society, collaboration has ne urgency and ne promise. Museums cannot operate in isolation in a orld of shifting boundaries. Collaboration today has expanded possibilities for ensuring that museums use their collections, programs, and resources effectively. It is a ay to invite more participation from outside the museum in shaping ideas and making decisions and to augment the personal experience and professional expertise of a museum s staff. Collaboration enhances the ability of each participant and provides a unified, focused mechanism for achieving individual goals. The collaborative dialogue should also involve 21
museum visitors both actual and potential in determining ho to broaden presentation and therefore participation in the institution by underserved audiences. Recommendations Develop collaborative efforts ith individuals, organizations, corporations, and other museums that extend the museum s public dimension and enhance its ability to fulfill its educational mission. Recognize museums responsibility to share in the education of children by strengthening services for preservice and inservice classroom teachers. Develop undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education courses for teachers that help them understand the value of learning ith objects and in the museum environment. Strengthen relationships ith administrators, school boards, and other educators to develop better museum-school partnerships beginning at the state and local policymaking levels. Encourage museum staff to represent the museum in community activities. 7. DECISION MAKING assess the decision-making processes in museums and develop ne models that enable an expanded public dimension and a reneed commitment to excellence. An expanded public dimension for museums demands something other than traditional hierarchical decision making. A collaborative frameork for planning and decision making emphasizes that public service is a museum-ide endeavor, not a group of isolated functions. An effective organizational structure encourages internal dialogue, transcends the intellectual hierarchy often imposed on staff, stimulates cross-fertilization of ideas, and may even provoke argument and dissent. The perspectives of the museum audience and potential audience An effective organizational structure encourages internal dialogue, stimulates crossfertilization of ideas, and may even provoke dissent. must be represented as an important ingredient in planning and decision making. Museums everyhere are experimenting ith different organizational structures 22
that affect their educational role. In many museums education and public programs are becoming equal partners ith, not adjuncts to, curatorial and collections-related functions. This structure stimulates greater staff interaction about service to the public, and the interests of the museum audience are given a higher priority in museum planning and management. The team approach to exhibition and program development is another concept that has currency in many museums. Using teamork to plan a program or an exhibition as opposed to combining the discrete efforts of different staff members encourages a healthy blend of ideas and perspectives that enriches the final product. Recommendations Establish decision-making structures for the development of exhibitions and programs involving formal interaction among staff ho are knoledgeable about content, audience needs and interests, and the ays people perceive and process information. Experiment ith museum organizational structures that accommodate broad staff participation in decision making, and document and publicize effective models of these structures. Ensure that decision making about exhibitions and interpretive programs involves all staff members ho administer programs related to the museum s public service. Involve community advisory groups in decision making about ays the museum can serve the public in different aspects of its program and operations. Develop ays for volunteers to contribute their knoledge an experiences to improve the museum s service to the public. 8. BOARDS, STAFF, AND VOLUNTEERS achieve diversity among trustees, staff, and volunteers to assure a breadth of perspective throughout the museum. The task force has reiterated the concerns that the Commission on Museums for a Ne Century expressed about cultural, racial, and gender imbalance on museum boards, in the museum ork force, and in the ranks of volunteers, particularly in light of the sense of urgency that task force members feel about expanding museums public service dimension. If museums are to be elcoming places for people of different racial, ethnic, social, economic, and educational backgrounds an if they are to use their collections to present a variety of perspectives, they must recruit, hire or select, and foster the professional groth of trustees, staff, and volunteers ho reflect diverse audiences and multiple perspectives. A serious commitment to diversity ill require idening the arena for recruitment. 23
The search for professional staff should be expanded beyond the academic disciplines that traditionally lead to museum ork hen those disciplines do not reflect diversity in cultural background, race, or gender. Moreover, museums should recruit and hire staff members from sectors of the community not traditionally served by institutions of higher learning. The recruitment of trustees and volunteers, too, should be extended to parts of the community not typically represented on museum boards and in volunteer organizations. Recommendations Recruit trustees ho are representative of and involved in all segments of the museum s community. Recruit and hire staff to reflect diversity at all levels in the museum. Recruit a volunteer corps that is representative of the museum s entire community. Establish scholarships and stipends to attract a diverse pool of potential museum professionals to university training programs. Establish paid internships and scholarships for young professionals designed to increase the cultural diversity of the museum ork force. Provide professional development opportunities to ensure the retention and promotion of the staff that is recruited and to support staff in expanding their on professional knoledge and expertise. 9. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT provide professional development and training for ne and established professionals, trustees, and volunteers that meets the needs of the museum profession so that museums may carry out their responsibility to their diverse public. Many professionals enter the museum ork force through university training programs and, once involved in the museum field, continue their education through programs, orkshops, and meetings carried out in a variety of settings. The concept of the hole museum as an educational institution should be introduced to students from the beginning of their preparation for museum ork and be a cornerstone of continuing education for practicing professionals as ell as for trustees and volunteers. Degree-granting programs, continuing education programs, and training programs conducted by individual museums all have vital roles to play. In the university setting, a thriving dialogue about the public responsibility of museums ill stimulate in prospective museum professionals a strong commitment to the principles of excellence 24